


Kudoclasm

by Rookblonkorules



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hurt Levi Ackerman, I love these three so much I could cry, Injury, Levi Ackerman Needs a Hug, Levi Ackerman Whump, Levi Ackerman-centric, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, No Regrets Canon, Protective Levi Ackerman, Spoiler Alert: Levi Ackerman Gets a Hug, mild whump, minor descriptions of injury, y'all didn't seriously think Isabel was letting him get away without one did you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-20
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-29 01:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30148872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rookblonkorules/pseuds/Rookblonkorules
Summary: Levi takes a bullet meant for Isabel.
Relationships: Levi Ackerman & Furlan Church & Isabel Magnolia
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	Kudoclasm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tatsue akashiro (smol_demon_giyuu)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/smol_demon_giyuu/gifts).



> This work is gifted to tatsue akashiro, who requested some Levi whump. I don't think I would have ever written Levi whump had it not been for that request, but I did have a lot of fun with this, so thank you for that! I hope you enjoy it!  
> (Also, if you happen to be an Assassination Classroom fan as well, please read their fabulous fic, Strength.)
> 
> This isn't as angsty or whumpy as I had originally intended- sorry about that. Chalk it up to my needing some softness after the barrage of heavy angst canon has been throwing at us. *cries over chapter 138*  
> Title is taken from the dictionary of obscure sorrows and was honestly more suiting to my original idea for this fic, which got lost somewhere along the way, but I couldn't think of this fic as anything other than Kudoclasm and so it stuck.

Levi isn’t sure what ultimately tipped him off to the danger.

Maybe it’s the gleam of torchlight off the metal barrel seen out of the corner of his eye. Maybe it’s a sort of sixth sense- not that Levi has ever bought into any of that shit, though he’s intimately familiar with the concept of _instinct._

(It’s how he’s survived for over a decade down here.)

Maybe that’s what it is.

Instinct.

Whatever it is, he finds himself lunging for Isabel before he has time to fully think about it. 

She sees him with her peripheral vision, turning partially around to give him a look like he’s gone batshit crazy.

“Levi, what…!”

The thing about adrenaline, as Levi understands it, is that it masks pain in the moment, but it can’t prevent it.

So when the gun goes off and draws a line of fire across Levi’s side, he doesn’t immediately notice.

His body collides with hers in midair- he registers her startled cry in the back of his mind, somehow manages to read every bit of surprise written in the contours of her face- and they spin out of control. His arm curls around her back, pulling her against his body.

Behind them, he hears Furlan shout something. Their names, he thinks. Or maybe a warning. 

They hit a roof hard- Levi takes the brunt of it with his left shoulder, but the impact still draws a grunt from Isabel- and go rolling. 

They end up in a tangled heap, Levi pressing Isabel down into the stone beneath her. 

Isabel’s eyes are wide with horror as she stares up at him. 

Furlan lands at the edge of the roof and rushes towards them. 

“Levi! Isabel! Are you guys okay?”

“We’re fine!” Levi practically barks, pushing himself to his knees. The pain in his side is now pulsing, but he doesn’t have the time to deal with that right now. “Are they…?” 

“They’re not,” Furlan answers, without missing a beat. “That shot was a warning.”

Levi is on his feet by the time Furlan reaches his side. “Are you sure?” he demands. 

“Yes, yes, I’m sure!” Farlan shoots back, but it’s evident that’s not where his mind is. “Levi, your side…”

Levi presses a hand against his side- and hisses at the pain that immediately flares in protest.

His palm is sticky with blood when he pulls it away.

He blinks. 

So… he had been hit after all.

Shit. 

_Shit._

That will need to be looked at. 

The injury is inconvenient, yes, and dealing with it will be an absolute pain in the ass, but Levi also isn’t stupid enough to risk an infection. 

While the wound itself may not be fatal, an infection very well could be.

Especially in these kinds of conditions.

Isabel scrambles to her feet, nursing what’s sure to be a nasty bruise on her elbow, rubbing the offended limb with a grimace. 

That can be seen to later as well. The way she’s holding her arm, it’s unlikely she broke it, so it isn’t anything urgent. 

“Are you _sure?_ ” he insists, turning back to Furlan. He’s fairly certain Furlan’s assessment was correct- they aren’t being chased- but if anything, this will be the day when Old Man Weber is no longer satisfied by just a warning shot and sends his goons after them. 

Damnit. 

Weber is the definition of a pushover, though he has the money to ensure some semblance of protection. 

They’d spent a week casing the place to ensure minimal risk and what do they have to show for it?

A bullet wound and a busted arm.

They aren’t usually this lax.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Damnit, Levi, don’t you trust me?” Those words, spoken in a moment of frustration, send something spiking through Levi’s chest, but before he can decipher it, Furlan is invading his personal space once more and Levi wants him to _stop._ He glares at him, but apparently he doesn’t get the message because he doesn’t back down. “Let me see…” 

“Look at her first.” He gestures towards Isabel with the hand not plastered over his side.

“What?” Isabel straightens in surprise, still cradling her injured arm. “Levi…!”

“You’ve been shot!” Furlan snaps. “I think that’s a little more important than…”

“She needs her arm to use the gear!” Levi tosses back. 

“My arm is just fine!” Isabel pipes up, looking affronted.

“Levi, you know just as well as I do that needs to be looked at.”

They stare each other down- Furlan is usually willing to go along with Levi, but not this time- before Levi finally relents. 

He’s not so stubborn as to keep this going just for the sake of arguing his point.

(He doesn’t have one- just his pride at this point- but he isn’t telling Furlan that.)

Stiffly, he removes his hand, hissing softly, and lifts his shirt, peeling it away from the wound. 

An angry, red line is drawn across his side, blood smeared down his side. It’s painful, but it isn’t serious.

This wound won’t kill him. 

Furlan breathes a sigh of relief. “You’re lucky,” he says. 

“You don’t need to tell me,” Levi mutters.

He lets his shirt drop. It’s not life threatening, so it can wait. 

“Let’s go,” he says before Furlan can get another word in. The skin around Furlan’s eyes tightens for an instant, but he doesn’t protest.

He doesn’t have to be happy about this, but they don’t carry the medical supplies on them to take care of it here.

Now that Levi knows he doesn’t have a bullet lodged in his body, he’s content waiting until they’re safely at the hideout to properly tend to the wound.

Levi adjusts his gear and prepares to take off. 

As he does so, he catches sight of Isabel. 

Her face is pale and she’s chewing her lip. Something is bothering her- and Levi has a sneaking suspicion he knows what it is.

That too can wait.

* * *

With a grunt, Levi finishes tying off the bandage around his waist.

Someone shuffles in front of him and he raises his eyes, expecting to see Furlan.

Instead, Isabel stands before him. She wrings her hands, squeezing her eyes shut, and takes a deep breath before bursting out with, “I’m sorry!”

Levi blinks slowly. “What…?”   
She plows over him before he can finish that thought. “You wouldn’t have been shot if I had been paying attention.”

He tsks softly and beckons with his hand for her to sit beside him. “Come here, brat.”

A little shell-shocked, she does so without even grumbling at his usage of the word ‘brat.’

“You would have been shot if I hadn’t been paying attention,” he counters, reaching out to ruffle her hair briefly. “Besides, there’s no guarantee you would have even noticed the danger in time.”

She seems to accept this. “Okay.”

His expression softens, something akin to  _ fondness  _ warming his insides. He doesn’t say anything else, but he doesn’t remove his hand either. 

“Don’t expect me to do it again,” he mutters, voice gruff. He’s lying, of course. If it was between him or the other two taking a hit, he would do it again. “Brat,” he adds for good measure, partially because she is one and partially so he can hear her argue back.

She doesn’t argue back, which has Levi wondering just how deeply she’s taken this to heart.

He’s not sure how to address this and is still in the midst of contemplating this when her arms slide around him, giving him a careful squeeze. He tenses- then slowly lets himself relax.

She’s mindful of his injury, he notices- or at least she’s trying to be, though her actions still give his side a twinge. He grits his teeth and refuses to let her see, however.

She doesn’t deserve to feel any worse than she already does over this.

“She is, isn’t she?”

“Hey!”

Isabel shoots upright and, this time, Levi can’t contain his wince. She doesn’t notice, however, too put out by Furlan’s comment.

“Am not!” she protests.

Furlan grins down at them.

“Is there room for me?”

Isabel crosses her arms with a pout and Furlan simply plops himself down beside her.

“Furlan,” Levi begins, “what you said back then…”   
“What I said?” Furlan’s brows furrow as he struggles to remember. “You mean…”

Levi takes a deep breath, drawing one knee up and carefully avoiding eye contact with either of them. It’s never been easy for him to admit to feelings, but… he wants to right now.

“I do trust you,” he says quietly.

Admitting it shouldn’t be among one of the hardest things Levi has ever done, but… it is.

“Oh,” Furlan whispers.

“Ah, we already knew that.” Isabel leans against him, letting her head come to rest on his shoulder, and snuggles against his side.

Levi lifts his arm, allowing her to tuck herself more comfortably against him. He feels a touch to his shoulder and lifts his head, meeting Furlan’s look with a questioning one of his own.

“I did already know that,” he confirms.

“See?” Isabel cuts. “It’s all good.”

Levi’s lips twitch into a not-quite smile. “Fine.”

He leans back with a sigh of contentment, allowing his eyes to slide shut. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure if this is... too soft.  
> I don't see Levi as any sort of cuddler, but I think Isabel just has that effect.  
> Also, this is based off of the No Regrets manga rather than the OVA. I'm not sure how different the two are, so... that's that, I guess?  
> Levi is a very difficult character for me to write. I'm desperately hoping that I got him right- or at least his younger, No Regrets timeline self right. I'm really not sure if this ending sits right with me. I may come back to this *says this knowing full well I'll get completely absorbed with my other works and forget about this*


End file.
